DDR vs. SDR

[Flow]

I was wondering how big a difference it would make to switch to a DDR mobo & memory.
I know there's no way back. DDR is finally afforable and if you would have to build a new system it would be kindda stupid not to choose for DDR. But how about upgrading? Is it really worth the price buying a new mobo and new dimms (again) ?

Does anybody know of a comparative review artikle about SDR and DDR RAM?

[FunkyTechnician]

I personally wouldn't upgrade right now. If you are using PC133 SDRAM I would just hold off until the next DDR update. The gain isn't that great imo and not worth the upgrade of buying a new mobo plus memory. I believe there were some comparisons of SD vs. DDR on www.tomshardware.com but those were when DDR was in it's infancy.

Although the chipsets have definitely matured I just don't see it as being a crucial (not trying to be funny) upgrade for most users.

A²

[David]

I would say that if you are buying a new mobo anyway then DDR should be chosen over SDR. I also think that you should get DDR to get the full benefit from 266fsb processors, like the Athlon-C and the AThlonXP. I think there is a bit of performance increase.

[Flow]

Originally posted by penguinfreak
I would say that if you are buying a new mobo anyway then DDR should be chosen over SDR. I also think that you should get DDR to get the full benefit from 266fsb processors, like the Athlon-C and the AThlonXP. I think there is a bit of performance increase.

Hmmm, yes, I can see that.
But you see, I plan to upgrade a system with an old Duron 650 in it right now and I want to put an XP1500+ in it. It has a MSI K7T Turbo mobo though, with PC133 SDRAM.
Thing is, I'm on a tight budget right now and I can only (re) consider a new mobo/memory if the gain is really worth the effort that i'll have to make to get them (:eh?: )

Maybe I can put my question in a different way: what I'm affraid off is that without DDR I will losse so much performance from a XP1500+ that I'm better off with a generic Athlon 1400 (fsb200), considering the even lower price and no need to upgrade anything else.

Does this all makes sense to you? I wished that I could explain the whole thing a bit better, but english is not my native language. Sorry! :(

[David]

Try the K7S5A - it should support AthlonXP and can use DDR or SDR RAM.

You wouldn't lose too much performance by using SDR, but AthlonXP and DDR are made for each other - they both use a frequency of 266MHz

PS Your english is good, besser als mein deutsch!

[Mictlan]

If you are going to buy an Athlon XP, you are going to need a new mobo. There seems to be some changes in the way the XP interact with the mobo. Many people thought that old Socket A mobos will be supporting the XP and at the time they upgraded they saw that they would post.

I would suggest that you go to the AMD motherboard forum and ask if someone has your mobo and had succesfully used a XP with it.

There was a editorial by Ed taht address that point, and commented that even XP mobos might become obsolete really fast when the new 0.13 micron die Athlons hit the streets. All the mobo manufactures are playing the "OK, I think the mobo will handle it", but if then don't give you something written you can believe them.

I'm not AMD guru (I don't even own an AMD processor), but that seems exactly the same problem with Intel. First we had the first Socket 360. Later Intel upgraded it to the FC-PGA package and now they are offering FC-PGA2. All of them uses the same socket, but the pins have changed, making running newer processor impossible. So before you buy your new Athlon XP 1600+, search very well on the web that your actual mobo can run it. :)

[Soren]

I was actually about to ask the same question as the guy that posted this thread..

Helpful replies and all.. but tom's hardware is ... SO big I get lost easily. Does anyone have links to it.. I searched around and found a few vague articles [which isn't much like Tom's Hardware, i know!].

And I risk showing my ignorance, but RAMBUS memory.. what is it and what does it mean, plus, what is a mobo? another name for a mainboard/motherboard??!

Soren

[adamtekh]

360 uhhhh, 370 ;)

mobo = motherboard

[OC-Master]

My friend has the exact same setup as me except he's got a 1200MHz Athlon with 256MB DDR Ram but for some reason, my system is faster in everything except the sandra benchmark with memory. Even Quake, my system scores 2fps higher, and I know the performance increase between sdr and ddr on mb is still too small to really notice. My 133MHz increase allows my system to eat his system and maybe the extra 768MB of ram too
:eek:

[Mictlan]

Let's try to sort this one out.

Mobo is short from motherboard.

RAMBUS=RIMM is the technology that the first PIV for their memory modules.

When running the same setup (same CPU, same FSB) the memory timings gives you diofferent scores in the benchmarks.

Here are some links to get you a little more knoledge about memory types and timings
good site with lots of technical data (http://www.lostcircuits.com/memory/) Comparison of PIV memory subsystems (http://www.xbitlabs.com/mainboards/pentium4-chipsets/) Old comparison of SDRAM vs DDR (http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q4/001030/index.html)

[Flow]

You know what bothers me?
There are a few motherboards who take both PC133 and DDR RAM right?
So why are there so few attempts to compare the two memory types that way? Or am I missing something?
Are people affraid that this would show how little difference there is between SDR and DDR?

It all comes down to the fact that I would like to know what the difference in performance is between a AMD Athlon XP with DDR and the same CPU without DDR! Yet, nobody seems to have the answer to that question.

[Maximus Nickus]

SDR will bottleneck it, why do you think P4's are quick? Because there memory is at 800Mhz!!! (Next year 1Ghz!!!)

DDR will be much quicker and my loading times were cut in half, my games are really smooth as well, its great!

To make it more amazing before I had SDR + 64MB MX Now I have DDR + 4MB MGA Millenium (64MB broke) so my system is faster even with an old G-Card in games than it was before all because of DDR. (Can't wait for my 8500!!!)

This is my experience, obviously it might not make that much of a difference for you but I ofund it to be great, I would also get a EPOX 8KHA+ Mobo as they are sooooooooo fast its unbelievable, I hit 155FSB @ cas2 with 3 sticks of Crucial at 2.5V (default)

170FSB @ cas2 with them at 2.7V

[13oots2]

Best move I made upgrading to DDR. I'm a keen Seti cruncher and for identical CPU speed, my times were cut from about 6.5Hrs average to around 5Hrs. IMHO I would say that is a pretty big performance increase. Also 3D Open GL previews in Lightwave are far faster rendering. It just depends what you are using your system for.

[nucro]

Here are some links : link (http://www.vanshardware.com/articles/2001/november/011109_Upgrade/011109_Upgrade.htm)


old one (http://www.hardocp.com/articles/chipset/ktsvsddr/)

I don't think the %9-%15 difference would worth it

[Yodums]

Yup only like a 15% increase.

If you have to upgrade choose the DDR option if not then don't because its not worth all the cash instead of that hell go buy a new chip :)